This new report from the Cocoa Barometer argues that a fundamental reform of the cacao sector is needed in order to tackle the challenges that cocoa farming is facing. The report states that current initiatives and programmes are not sufficient and that:
“While most of the sustainability efforts focus on increasing a farmer’s productivity, this approach alone will not solve the problem. Yields do need to rise, but increasing farmers’ productivity must be coupled with an increased cocoa price for farmers. This means that chocolate needs to become more expensive. Crop diversification, tenure security, better infrastructure and access to information for farmers are also needed.”
The report encourages the following steps to be taken within the industry:
1. Develop a living income model for smallholder cocoa farming
2. Address the price-setting mechanisms in order to increase prices at farm-gate level
3. Move from voluntary to mandatory sector-wide solutions”
The Cocoa Barometer is an initiative of the main European civil society organisations involved in sustainable cocoa production.
Read the full Cocoa 2015 barometer report here and for a summary see here.
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